Prime minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov condemned the barbaric dog ritual knowns as ‘trichane na kuche‘ and discussed ways to end such animal abuse with the prosecutor general Boris Velchev after numerous animal rights groups protested against the practice, News.com.au reports.

Dog spinning was the culmination of a four day celebration in Brodilovo, a village in the south-eastern Bulgarian region of Strandzha.

It was held to mark 133 years of independence from the Ottoman empire, but is also meant to chase away evil spirits ahead of spring.

As a part of the ritual, the dog is turned repeatedly in a given direction to wind the rope and then released so that it spins rapidly in the opposite direction as the rope unwinds.

The terrified dogs sometimes reached such high speeds that by the time the land in the river they are unable to swim and many drown.

Brodilovo mayor Petko Arnaoudov said he had banned the ritual in 2006, but he could not stop rogue elements in the village from still carrying it out believing that the failure last year to hold the event was to blame for a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak which struck in the area for the first time in 12 years, reports Austrian Times.